Construction prices pick up slightly in November

The prices of raw materials in construction picked up slightly in November, rising by 4.3% year on year compared with 3.6% year on year in October.

However, the overall trend for the whole year has been downwards. The year-on-year increase slowed from 8.3% in the first quarter of 2005, to 5.3% in the second and 4.4% in the third.

In the whole period January-November 2005, prices of construction materials rose by 5.6% compared with the same period of 2004, whereas they rose by 8.2% for the whole of 2004.

Prices in 2004 were pushed up by high prices of steel.